08/03/2010 CESO Assistance in developing Project Management skills at HD ECG
CESO Voluntary Advisor, Dunstan Chicanot, provided ECG team with 4 day training on “the art and science” of project management with particular reference to procurement criteria of the World Bank.
Mr. Chicanot holds M.A. degree in Educational Psychology and M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology and his key areas of expertise include management training, training of trainers, coaching, counseling, mediations, organization development, results oriented management etc. He has rich international experience in management and human resources development on various tasks ranging from NGO and government trainings in Africa to teaching courses in Training and Development, Coaching and Canadian Business at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Canada.
During the 4 day training, practical approach through case studies and role plays was used to encourage participants to take active part in widening their knowledge on project management and business development, with emphasis on getting more comfortable with World Bank procedures. The training included active participation of ECG team members in devising solutions for particular project management tasks and challenges. CESO expert Mr. Chicanot took the role of learning facilitator more than a lecturer and the participants were stimulated to bring their own knowledge and experience to the classroom and share it with others.
20/12/2009 Mentorship for young entrepreneurs
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, has become a mentor to young entrepreneurs within the CEED program “Top Class”. This program supports young entrepreneurs in their personal, professional and business growth, motivating them to develop the mentality of globally successful entrepreneurs.
The first mentorship evening was held on December 16 in Hotel Continental, thus officially launching the first generation of Top Class program in Serbia. In the course of this event, the Top Class participants had the opportunity to meet some of the mentors and guest speakers of the program.
More info:
http://www.ceedserbia.org/web/default.aspx
02/12/2009 Regional round table
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, has participated in the round table organized by Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) “Economic Cooperation among countries of former Yugoslavia – possibilities and challenges”. The round table has included two topics: “How to skip over 10 places on the competitiveness ranking?” and “Yugosphere - project or utopia?” Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy and Regional Development of Serbia held the opening speech, while Tim Judah, Journalist of The Economist, and Marina Wes, representative of the World Bank made introductions to panel discussions held by top executives of several successful companies of the region.
More info:
http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Ekonomija/Regionalno-povezivanje-neminovno.lt.html
http://www.blic.rs/drustvo.php?id=123260
17/11/2009 EU Integrations and Managerial Profession in Serbia
More info:
22/09/2009 Transfuse Anniversary Meeting
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, will participate at the Transfuse Association 10th Anniversary Meeting, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from September 24-27, 2009. The topic of this jubilee meeting will be Europe and the World in 2020: A Balkan Perspective.
The Transfuse Association is a unique interdisciplinary network of young professionals from the Balkans, broader Europe and the United States. Its goal is to bridge the gap between the needs of Southeastern Europe and international policy making by evaluating policies and approaches, identifying deficiencies, formulating priorities for regional development and generating ideas and practical recommendations for action. The association contributes to building the internationally oriented human capital the region needs for the future.
Many professionals supporting the ideas of the Transfuse Association from all around the world will take part in this event, among which will be President of Republic of Turkey, H.E. Abdullah Gül; Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India; Ivan Krastev, Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sophia; Ivan Vejvoda, Executive Director, Balkan Trust for Democracy, Belgrade; Leena Srivastava, Executive Director of The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, Goran Svilanovic, Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, Vienna ; Kemal Dervis, Vice President and Director of Global Economy and Development, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; Sandra Breka, Head of Berlin Office, Robert Bosch Stiftung and others.
10/09/2009 Project Completed: Support to Unemployed and Human Resources Development
The Final Conference of the project Support to Unemployed and Human Resources Development was held on September 3, 2009. Launched in June 2007, this EU-funded project has been implemented by GOPA, HD ECG, BBRZ and Help in collaboration with the National Employment Service and the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of Republic of Serbia.
The project was implemented in Belgrade and Banat and its goal was to contribute to decrease unemployment and support social cohesion in Serbia through development and implementation of active labour measures and employment programs that respond to the needs of three concrete groups of unemployed persons: long term unemployed, unemployed young people and persons with special needs.
http://www.europa.rs/code/navigate.php?Id=1009
25/08/2009 CESO assistance in ISO 9001 Certification process at ECG
ECG is taking a big step in improving its own performance and by the end of 2009 it will implement ISO 9001:2008 international standard for quality. CESO Volunteer Adviser, Mr Lorne Duquette, will be sharing his ISO implementation experience and provide ECG with professional guidance and support in preparing our organization for certification. Our business processes and procedures will be reviewed and upgraded where necessary to incorporate the documentation needed in order to fulfill the requirements for a quality management system.
With integrity in the workplace, dedicated employees, and innovative services, the ECG QUALITY POLICY will be to satisfy our customers with a full range of world class technical assistance projects that meet the needs and expectations of international and domestic customers.
HD ECG is one of the three partners, along with SIEPA and Skills, chosen in Serbia by Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO) to participate in the project of professional guidance and support to deepen and expand their capabilities and knowledge in establishing the private sector consulting business. CESO is a private, not-for-profit Canadian organization of Volunteer Advisers providing technical and managerial assistance to the private and public sectors in the developing countries around the world.
10/08/2009 New project won: Support to the National Judicial Academy
HD ECG, in cooperation with its partners Human Dynamics, Cifesal and Acer Institute, has won EU funded project “Institutional Strengthening of the Judicial Academy”. The objective of the project is to strengthen the rule of law and promote sound functioning of the judiciary in the Republic of Serbia through support to the Judicial Academy (Judicial Training Centre) in improving the quality of its programmatic activities and fulfilling its important role with respect to raising the professional qualifications of judges, prosecutors, and other legal and judicial personnel.
The Project is designed to provide a combination of technical assistance to strengthen the Judicial Academy as an institution and programmatic support for key activities. This will help the Judicial Academy to more effectively and efficiently fulfill its important and expanding role in raising the professional qualifications of legal professionals and court employees.
03/07/2009 Transformation Thinkers Reunion
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, has participated at the conference Transformation Thinkers organized in Berlin from June 28 – July 4, 2009, by GTZ and Bertelsmann Stiftung.
The Transformation Thinkers conference has provided a forum for joint reflection on strategies to solve key problems associated with the transition to a market-based democracy, an opportunity for exchange with experienced agents of change and experts from the Bertelsmann Foundation’s international network, as well as exchange with other leaders from developing and transition countries.
Among other interesting speakers, participants of the Transformation Thinkers conference have taken part in discussions with Bernd Eisenblätter, Managing Director of GTZ, and Norbert Lammert, President of the German Parliament and Anna Lührmann, Member of the Budget Committee of the German Parliament.
More info:
http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/22.0.html?&L=1
04/06/2009 New project won: Support to the Health Care Accreditation Agency
HD ECG, in cooperation with its partners, has won an important EU funded project in the Serbian health sector: “Establishment of the Public Agency for Accreditation and Continuous Quality Improvement of Health Care in Serbia”. The partners of ECG on this project are EPOS, a specialized medical consultant company from Germany, and two leading health care accreditation agencies from Great Britain, NICE and CHKS.
This project is significant for setting continuous quality standards for the Serbian health care system, as its objective is capacity building support to the Public Health Care Accreditation Agency and quality improvement of health service delivery in general.
29/05/2009 CESO assistance in developing private sector, management and business solutions consultancy
The primary area of assistance that CESO will provide to HD ECG is in the area of management consultancy, business development and corporate governance skills. ECG and CESO developed six Volunteer Advisor (VA) assignments and the first will focus on the hard skills and methodology of planning and executing a business solution consultancy project.
19/05/2009 Caux Round Table in Serbia
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, was appointed the representative of the Caux Round Table (CRT) for Serbia. CRT is an international network of experienced business leaders, who work with business and political leaders to design the intellectual strategies, management tools and practices to strengthen private enterprise and public governance to improve our global community.
The Caux Round Table believes that business community should play an important role in improving economic and social conditions in the world. The CRT Principles for Business represent universal vision for ethical and responsible corporate behavior and serve as a foundation for action for business leaders worldwide. The principles are rooted in three ethical foundations for responsible business and a fair and functioning society in general: responsible stewardship, living and working for mutual advantage and the respect and protection of human dignity.
02/05/2009 The first VA of CESO to visit HD ECG
Paul White, P. Eng, M.B.A., is an engineer with post graduate training in business from the University of Western Ontario. His career has been mainly focused on management consulting and has worked for Cooper & Lybrand, Arthur D. Little and most recently for Hatch. While based in Toronto, Canada, his work has taken him throughout Canada, the United States, Western Europe and most recently, since the 1990’s, on projects in Eastern Europe, Russia and the FSU and on assignment in Australia.
He is, a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Ontario, a Past Member of Council, Professional Engineers of Ontario, Past President of the Institute of Management Consultants of Ontario and Past President of the Institute of Management Consultants of Canada. Most of his professional work has been consulting to corporate management on; corporate development, acquisition and merger assessment, diversification planning, identification and assessment of new business opportunities, with a focus on business strategic planning in the manufacturing and resource industries.
28/04/2009 Lecture on the position of Serbia in the process of association to EU
Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG, gave a lecture Position of Serbia in the Process of Approaching EU and its Implications for the Business Sector at the Faculty for management of small and medium sized enterprises in Belgrade.
The lecture was organized within the cooperation on the project “Na praksi SAM” between the Faculty for management of small and medium sized enterprises and Serbian Association of Managers (SAM), with aim to improve knowledge of future young experts through their inclusion into this student trainee program in companies, which directors, owners and managers are members of SAM.
After the short overview of the history of EU development in organizational, economic and political sense, Danijel Pantic concentrated the lecture on the key points in EU functioning as an international organization and the position of Serbia in the process of EU accession.
24/03/2009 Efficiency of EU policy towards countries of West Balkans
Mr. Danijel Pantic, Managing Partner of HD ECG participated in the conference on Efficiency of EU Policy towards Countries of West Balkans held at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad on March 21, 2009. The participants of the conference were students and young leaders, members of student and youth organizations, and young journalists. The conference was organized with aim to, by participation of eminent professionals from selected fields, offer new information, comment facts and present personal opinions of participants through a fruitful and attractive discussion.
General subject of the conference was efficiency of EU policies towards Serbia, as well as role and responsibility of Serbia on the way of accession to EU. Three specific subjects of great importance for young people and their understanding of the process and actors, possible solutions of crisis situations and development of critical thought in general were chosen and the conference included the following panel discussions:
• Mobility of students and young people – how to get to Europe?
• Serbia and European integrations – how to reach the candidate status?
• Serbia and the global economic crisis – how to overcome the crisis?
Mr. Pantic was a panelist at the discussion on the global economic crisis, together with Radovan Jelasic, the governor of the National Bank of Serbia and Kosta Josifidis, professor of the Economic Faculty in Novi Sad. Conference took place in the framework of the South-eastern Europe and the EU – Leadership Development Programme through the support of the European Fund for the Balkans, an initiative by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the King Baudouin Foundation, the Compagnia di San Paolo and the ERSTE Foundation.
23/01/2009 SAM members visit Slovenia
At the invitation of Slovenian Association of Managers (MAS) and Mr. Franjo Bobinac, president of MAS and Head of Management of the company Gorenje, Serbian Association of Managers organized a trip to Slovenia for its members and partners, from January 22-23, 2009. Danijel Pantic, Vice President of SAM and Managing Partner of HD ECG, was a member of the delegation consisted of top managers and businessmen from Serbia. SAM delegation held several meetings with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Ljubljana and Slovenian businessmen and had chance to visit company Gorenje in Velenje and bottling plant of Donat Mg water and Cocta in Rogaska Slatina. This trip organized by SAM and MAS represented an important effort of regional economic networking and cooperation of related associations between Serbia and Slovenia.
More info:
http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2009&mm=01&dd=23&nav_id=340797
http://www.ekonomist.co.yu/vesti/srbija/76512.html
14/12/2008 Lecture of prof. Stephen B. Young
HD ECG participated in the organization of this event in cooperation with Serbian Association of Managers (SAM), Business Leaders Forum Serbia, E-kapija and UN Global Compact Serbia.
28/11/2008 Skills@Work Challenge
The British Council and Junior Achievement - Young Enterprise Europe (JA-YE Europe) have organized Skills@Work Challenge project intended for young people from professional secondary schools from Great Britain and 9 countries of South East Europe, among which is Serbia. The purpose of this competition is to stimulate young people to to use their potentials in a creative and enterprenural way and thus increase their employability and possibility of productive inclusion into global market competition. Skills@Work Challenge is devised as a one day event during which representatives of business sector give to teams a challenge of solving one of their real business problems. The teams, with the help of consultants from business sector, rationalize solutions of this problem and present it to the jury consisted of managers of participating companies. The best teams from 10 countries are qualified for the final challenge that will take place in March 2009 in Bulgaria.
Skills@Work Challenge Serbia was organized on November 26, 2008, in the Country Club Babe in Sopot. Following the principles of corporate social responsibility, HD ECG supported this project and its Managing Partner, Danijel Pantic, participated in the event as a member of the jury that chose the best teams.
20/10/2008 Improvement of the Management Structure of Ekapija
Ekapija.com is functioning since January 2005 and the company is covering markets of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there are plans to open business in Croatia as well. Ekapija.com presents information in the form of daily business news service, which is delivered by e-mail directly to end users. The content is also published at the web portal itself (www.ekapija.com), which serves as on-line, searchable database consisted of business intelligence, available in Serbian, German and English, with plans to offer service in all languages of West Balkan countries.
As in most cases of fast growing businesses, there is en emerging need to restructure and improve the management structure both at the level of the business model and introducing practical preconditions for sustainable growth. In the period of project duration, from November 2008 to March 2009, HD European Consulting Group will provide the company with advice and tools how to improve management performance, including advice on how to recruit a competent person for the responsible position of Executive Director.
10-11/11/2008 5th Vienna Economic Forum
The event was organized in Raiffeisen Zentral Bank in Vienna and gathered around 500 participants from 37 countries throughout the world. High ranking representatives from member countries` ministries, OPEC, Energy Community Secretariat, IETI Europa (Institute for European Training and Information), SEECP (South-East European Cooperation Process), Regional Cooperation Council, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) took part in the meeting among other participants. The topics discussed included financing and investments, energy issues, transport and communications, as well as corporate responsibility in the field of education. http://www.vienna-economic-forum.com/events.html
01/11/2008 Media Assistance Program
HD European Consulting Group, as a partner of IREX, will participate in implementation of USAID financed Media Assistence Program in Serbia.
The main objective of the program is creating a legally sound, economically viable media sector that provides professional and independent news and information for citizens throughout Serbia. The purpose of this program is to see these organizations in the next four years strengthen structurally, embrace their entire constituencies and be able to work both separately and together to produce results that the industry, civil society and government respect and support.
03/10/2008 Lecture on ways to succeed on Serbian market
Within the project Europe 3D Serbia, organized by student organization European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management ESTIEM, 32 students from 12 European countries, as well as students from Serbia, have had a chance to hear the lecture How to be Successful on the Serbian Market, which have been presented by Daniel Panti?, director of HD European Consulting Group and Vice President of Serbian Association of Managers. The lecture has been held on October 3, 2008 at the Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade. http://www.ien.bg.ac.yu/vesti/2008/e_oct3_lecture_dp.html
The Project Europe 3D Serbia represents a serial of seminars during which delegates from 12 European countries will have chance to get to know Serbia. The project, lasting from October 1-6, 2008, is focused to organization of lectures and discussions aiming to present legal and political situation, economic structure and cultural and historical heritage of Serbia.
07/07/2008 IPA Programming and Project Preparation Facility Won!
HD European Consulting Group in consortium with EWC, FIIAPP and ECO3 won the IPA Programming and Project Preparation Facility.
The main objective of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is to help Serbia face the challenges of European integration, implement the reforms needed to fulfil EU requirements and make progress in the Stabilisation and Association Process.
The purpose of this 2.0 million euro worth contract is to provide support to the Serbian Government in Programming IPA Funds for the 2009/10 programmes, support in identifying projects and preparing project fiche for IPA funding complete with feasibility studies, implementation plans and other necessary support documentation as per the IPA regulation as well as building capacities in the Serbian Administration to increase ownership over the IPA programming and project identification/preparation process.
14-15/04/2008 Vienna Economic Forum - Montenegro Meeting
Mr. Danijel Panti?, Managing Partner of HD European Consulting Group, participated in Vienna Economic Forum-Montenegro Meeting, held under the patronage of H.E. Prime Minister Milo ?ukanovi?. Meeting gathered 230 participants from 21 countries, and also from the South-East European Co-operation Process (SEECP), the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) from the Council of Europe, EU Commission, the OSCE, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), from International Finance Corporation - World Bank Group. The possibility to hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister, Montenegrin Ministers and with high representatives of Montenegrin companies was highly appreciated by the Members of Vienna Economic Forum. The results are a successful basis for a further cooperation, in which Austrian and international companies are interested.
http://www.vienna-economic-forum.com/events.html
10/02/2008 Step Out 2
HD European Consulting Group participated in organization of art exhibition Step Out 2 that will take place from 10th to 22nd February 2008 in MKM. Our company established tradition of promoting young, talented artists and latest work of ten of them will be presented through this event.
11/04/2007 Serbian Association of Managers (SAM)
Serbian Association of Managers was founded by several professional managers in November 2006, as a non government and non profit organization.
Mission of the Serbian Association of Managers: Enhancement and promotion of the management profession in Serbia and exercising articulated influence on decision makers in the public policy domain towards efficient establishment and improvement of conditions for private sector development in Serbia, in accordance with the EU and OECD standards.
Mr. Danijel Panti?, Managing Partner of HD European Consulting Group, as one of the establishers has been elected for the vice president of Serbian Association of Managers.
For further information please visit www.sam.org.yu
24/04/2006 The European Consulting Group Fifth Anniversary
From April 24th to April 30th 2006, HD European Consulting Group together with Human Dynamics KG, is organizing an international manifestation and exhibition in Ozon (www.o3.co.yu) Belgrade’s leading avant-garde gallery. This original and interesting event will gather around sixty Serbian and international decision makers and business representatives, together with the exhibition of young, talented and also well known artists. Considering Serbia and Montenegro are taking constant and firm steps to integrate with European Union, We therefore believe that our jubilee is just an occasion to foster attention of the decision makers and business leaders towards cultural aspects of the European integration of Serbia.
01/10/2005 Capacity Building of the Health Insurance Fund in Serbia
Successful start of the project Capacity Building of the Health Insurance Fund in Serbia, Service Contract Number: 05SER01/15/001. This EU – funded project managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction, implemented by the Consortium of GVG, EPOS and HD European Consulting Group is the first major EU project supporting health insurance system development in Serbia. The overall project objective is to build the capacity of the Health Insurance Fund to function as an effective commissioner of health and health services, using limited resources for the maximum benefit of the insured population in Serbia.
